The present invention relates to devices for suspending commodities in shops, clubhouses, schools, gymnasiums and other establishments, especially for suspending sports equipment, such as tennis rackets, badminton rackets, squash rackets and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a device (hereinafter called hanger for short) which can be used with particular advantage for suspension of the afore-enumerated and/or other commodities in such a way that each commodity can be rapidly detached from or reattached to the hanger.
At the present time, various types of rackets, such as tennis rackets, badminton rackets, squash rackets and/or others, are normally stored in suspended condition or in the form of stacks. The devices for supporting rackets in suspended condition resemble meat hooks wherein one arcuate end portion serves to suspend the device on a rod and the other arcuate end portion serves for suspension of one or more rackets thereon. As a rule, the plane of the arcuate end portion for suspension of one or more rackets makes an angle of approximately 90 degrees with the plane of the other arcuate end portion. This renders it possible to store a plurality of rackets, one next to the other, by suspending the hooks on a rod or an analogous support.
A drawback of the just discussed conventional hangers which resemble meat hooks is that the rackets are likely to slip off the respective arcuate end portions. Moreover, a racket can be readily suspended on an arcuate end portion only if it is not confined in an envelope, such as a plastic casing which is normally employed for confinement of tennis rackets. Once the racket is inserted into a casing, it cannot be readily suspended on an arcuate end portion of a hook-shaped hanger. Therefore, the just described hangers cannot be used for suspension of rackets which are confined in casings, i.e., the casing must be removed prior to suspension of the unconfined racket on the hanger. This is undesirable and inconvenient for a number of reasons, i.e., the casing can be misplaced, the racket can be damaged and the casing requires additional storage space.
It is also known to resort to hangers in the form of simple clamps which are used for suspension of commodities made of a textile material, e.g., for suspension of dusting cloths or the like. Basically, such hangers consist of two legs which can be displaced relative to each other so that a portion of a cloth can be inserted therebetween while at least one of the legs is held in deformed condition. The deformed leg is thereupon released so that it pinches the inserted portion of the cloth against the other leg. Presently known hangers of the just outlined character are only capable of supporting lightweight commodities, such as the aforementioned dust cloths or the like. Moreover, in most instances, the pinching action of such hangers is satisfactory only if the articles or commodities to be suspended are readily deformable, i.e., the hangers can be used for suspension of commodities consisting of textile material, readily deformable synthetic plastic sheet material, netting or the like.